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Tuzos, Xolos spin the Liga MX coaching carousel

By Thomas Buckley

Martín Palermo was fired by Pachuca, becoming the 11th coach to be dismissed this season. (Photo by Manuel Velasquez/Getty Images)
Martín Palermo was fired by Pachuca, becoming the 11th coach to be dismissed this season. (Photo by Manuel Velasquez/Getty Images) /
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After two more coaches were let go over the weekend, the Apertura 2019 has now witnessed 11 coaching changes.

Only one Liga MX coach had been fired since late September until November rolled around.  As the Apertura 2019 wound down and playoff dreams faded for some teams, the pink slips were in the mail.

Pachuca didn’t waste any time in making a coaching change. Tuzos ownership announced the firing of coach Martín Palermo the day after the team’s 2-0 win over the Pumas in their final game of the season. On Monday, Paulo Pezzolano was named Top Tuzo.

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The 36-year-old Uruguayan manager is no stranger to Liga MX, having played one season with Necaxa (2012). Pezzolano went into coaching immediately back home after retiring in 2016. He spent one year with Torque before managing Uruguay’s Liverpool the past two years. He led Liverpool to the summer tournament title, a short season that the Uruguayan soccer federation stages between the end of the Spring season and the start of the Fall season.

Up north, the Xolos of Tijuana are also looking for a new coach after Oscar Pareja was sent packing. Pareja spent two seasons in charge, missing out on a playoff spot this season after guiding the Xolos to a quarterfinals appearance at the end of his debut season, the Clausura 2019.

Late last week, there were reports that World Cup champ Mauro Camoranesi close to signing with Atlético San Luis to be their new coach. The Argentine-born midfielder played with Santos and Cruz Azul before making it big with Juventus and winning the 2006 World Cup with Italy. However, he had little success as a coach in Ascenso MX where he failed to win with Coras Tepic in 2015 and was fired by the Cafetaleros of Tapachula (Chiapas) after only nine games.

There have been whispers that Camoranesi is linked to a powerful player agent, Sergio Fortunato, in his corner, with the suggestion that San Luis is willing to give Camoranesi a chance in order to acquire a few of Fortunato’s talented clients. That would be most unfortunate since Gustavo Matosas was fired by the Tuneros precisely because he was caught on tape allegedly negotiating kickbacks with an agent.

Liga MX coaching carousel
Ricardo Peláez listens to reporters on Tuesday after he officially took over as Chivas team president. Luis Fernando Tena is in the background. (Photo by Oscar Meza/Jam Media/Getty Images) /

A long-anticipated managerial vacancy failed to materialize when new Chivas general manager Ricardo Peláez announced that Luis Fernando Tena will stay on as coach.

Most pundits had predicted that Peláez would bring in his own coach (Necaxa’s Guillermo Vázquez and former Monterrey manager Diego Alonso were mentioned), but “El Flaco” Tena guided Guadalajara to four wins in their last five matches. The Chivas were finally playing with flair under Tena after he took over for Tomás Boy in late September.

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